The Perils of Autobiography : Evidence, Meaning, Reliability, and Context in the Historiographical Canon on Carl Ransom Rogers, 1950s-2020s
Fierro, Catriel (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut d'Història de la Ciència)

Date:	2026
Description:	27 pàg.
Abstract:	This article examines the historical canon on Carl Ransom Rogers (1902-1987) as a case study in the epistemological and methodological shortcomings of 'insider' psycho-biographical narratives in the historiography of psychology. Most accounts of Rogers, written by Rogerian practitioners, rely heavily on a limited cluster of biographies and autobiographical recollections treated as transparent self-reports confirming the personal, developmental origins of his theories. I suggest such dependence has produced an 'echo-chamber' historiography: a closed system of citation, repetition, and uncritical reverence for inherited narratives privileging Rogers' first-person accounts. Through methodological criticism of published historical scholarship and archival reconstruction of Rogers' mid-century writings and professional context, I show that his autobiographical texts emerged from specific institutional, rhetorical, and personal circumstances rather than spontaneous self-disclosure. By situating these materials within broader debates on the historiography of the human sciences, I argue that the Rogerian canon exemplifies how disciplinary self-legitimation can distort historical explanation by collapsing history, memory, and celebration. I conclude by calling for a reflexive historiography grounded in archival evidence, methodological pluralism, and epistemic caution.
Grants:	Generalitat de Catalunya 2023/BP-00065
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Philosophical history of psychology ; Client-centered therapy ; Psychobiography ; Historiography of science ; Epistemology of historical research
Published in:	Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science, Vol. 60 (March 2026) , art. 19, ISSN 1936-3567

DOI: 10.1007/s12124-026-09982-3
PMID: 41796419

27 p, 1.4 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut d'Història de la Ciència (IHC)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles